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TFCA II”) Congressional Report 2015 Second Debt-for-Nature Swap between United States and Costa Rica (“TFCA II”) Congressional Report 2015 1 1. MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS 3 2. GRANT MAKING ACTIVITIES 5 3. PROJECT IMPACTS 8 4. LEVERAGING TFCA RESOURCES 10 5. SUMMARY TABLE 12 6. MAP OF PROTECTED AREAS WHERE THE TFCA II IMPLEMENTED PROJECTS_ _ 13 2 1. Major achievements This report summarizes the main achievements of the Second Debt-for-Nature Swap between Costa Rica and the United States (based on the U.S. Tropical Forest Conservation Act and so known as “TFCA II”) during 2015. The Forever Costa Rica Association is the Administrator of this initiative, while an Oversight Committee comprised of representatives of the U.S. and Costa Rican Governments as well as select environmental non-governmental organizations, provides overall direction and approves disbursements to grantees to implement the Debt Swap/TFCA II. The highlights of 2015 include progress on the implementation of projects funded as a result of the first four Requests for Applications (RFA) issued by the TFCA II initiative. Since the beginning of the TFCA II in 2012, 40 projects have been awarded for a total of nearly US$2,534,000. The fifth and sixth RFA were prepared in 2015, for a total amount of US$2,410,000. In both cases, submitted proposals focus on climate change, effective management and/or ecological representativeness. Moreover, during 2015, 3 more non-governmental organizations applied and were accepted as Eligible Entities, bringing to 32 the number of local and regional organizations registered to implement TFCA II projects. The Oversight Committee held a fieldtrip to the highlands of Talamanca Mountain Range, specifically to Los Quetzales National Park and Río Macho Forest Reserve (Figure 1). In both sites the TFCA II is currently implementing multiple projects and is expected to allocate further funds in the near future. The Oversight Committee met with park rangers and staff of both Protected Areas, and learned about the challenges they face and the advancements they have achieved in the TFCA II-financed projects. Among the achievements of the Strategic Plan 2011-2016 of the TFCA II during 2015, it is important to mention the following two: 1.2.1 Initiative: "Developing strategies for protected areas to climate change adaptation". The TFCA II along with the Irrevocable Trust Forever Costa Rica have financed a total of 25 General Management Plans for protected areas, which include strategic guidelines to deal with climate change, and expected to be implemented with recurring investment to increase the effective management of terrestrial protected areas. 3 2.2.2 Initiative: "Continuous training in the application of the technical tools to monitor the management effectiveness of protected areas, and the indicators of ecological integrity." Over 80 terrestrial protected areas have fulfilled the former tool, which was updated in late 2014, and for which there have been several shared training workshops with the BIOMARCC Project (which is implemented by the German Society for International Cooperation-GIZ). Additionally, with TFCA II funds, SINAC started for the first time the implementation of a monitoring program of ecological integrity indicators in 33 terrestrial protected areas, in July 2015. Also, the TFCA II has successfully reached cooperation initiatives with multiple entities, further enhancing the impacts of its mandate for a total of US$904,500 in resources leveraged. Figure 1. Oversight Committee fieldtrip to TFCA II priority sites 4 2. Grant making activities In 2015 the Administrator launched the fifth and sixth call for registration of Eligible Entities of the TFCA II, incorporating 3 new organizations. As of December 31, 2015, a total of 32 Eligible Entities are qualified to implement projects related to the goals of the TFCA II including both its geographic intervention areas and thematic priorities. For all these Eligible Entities, in May 2015 the TFCA II launched and managed the fifth RFA, for a total of approximately US$1,370,000 of funds allocated to 14 different projects to accomplish its thematic priorities (ecological representativeness, effective management of protected areas, and climate change response). Additionally, the second semester of 2015 saw the preparation of the sixth RFA, with submissions in November for 18 projects totaling approximately US$1,040,000. The development of the Terms of Reference (TOR) for these projects was cooperatively done with the managers and technical staff of 33 protected areas throughout the geographic intervention zones of the TFCA II (Figure 2). Currently, the Administrator is assessing all the proposals submitted to begin the projects in early 2016. Figure 2. Field visits to Protected Areas for the development of the TOR of the fifth and sixth RFA 5 Since the opening of the first RFA in 2012, the TFCA II has awarded US$2,534,000 to sixteen Eligible Entities to undertake a total of 40 different conservation projects (Table 1). In the first semester of 2015 the Forever Costa Rica Association worked with a group of international professionals with extensive experience in organizational strengthening and management in Latin America to design and implement a Training and Capacity-building Program to Eligible Entities. Primarily, the experts developed a Manual for Training the Trainers on relevant topics such as fundraising, management and budget execution, and formulation and evaluation of projects. Subsequently, they trained the Forever Costa Rica Association staff on these issues. Finally, June 2015 saw the implementation of a training workshop for 15 Eligible Entities selected by the TFCA II Oversight Committee and SINAC staff (Figure 3). Figure 3. Participants of the Training Workshop for TFCA II Eligible Entities 6 Table 1. TFCA II projects under implementation Project name Eligible Entity Budget Management Plan (MP) for Cerros de Escazú Protected Zone Fundación Neotrópica ₡ 29,356,217.55 MP for Miravalles Protected Area FUNDAUNA-CEMEDE ₡ 17,413,000.00 Studies to address the Río Bongo-Arío site CATIE ₡ 15,060,300.00 Studies to address the Embalse Arenal site CATIE ₡ 50,071,450.00 Studies to address the Río Parismina site CATIE ₡ 15,060,300.00 Strategy to prevent conflicts in Protected Areas CEDARENA ₡ 17,720,000.00 MP for Maquenque Wildlife Refuge Fundación Neotrópica ₡ 20,794,836.00 Studies to address the Térraba-Sierpe site Fundación Neotrópica ₡ 15,059,682.80 MP for Arenal-Monteverde Protected Zone Instituto Monteverde ₡ 12,746,272.00 MP for Tivives Protected Zone Fundación Neotrópica ₡ 12,750,000.00 Development of a plan on land tenure and a plan for physical signals at FUNDECONGO ₡ 30,740,000.00 Iguanita Wildlife Refuge and Nicolás Wessberg Biological Reserve MP for Río Macho Forest Reserve Fundación Corcovado ₡ 12,550,250.00 Protocol for developing Control and Protection Plans in Protected Areas, and FUNDECOR ₡ 217,768,546.56 implementation at multiple protected areas Establishment of a land tenure program at Juan Castro Blanco National Park FUNDACA ₡ 17,667,020.00 Development of a land tenure program at Volcán Irazú National Park and FUNDECOR ₡ 63,030,368.66 Volcán Turrialba National Park Update of the Management Plan for Barbilla National Park Fundación Corcovado ₡ 13,780,000.00 Design of a regional plan for the integrated fire management in the ASVO ₡ 17,667,020.00 Protected Areas of the Amistad Pacífico Conservation Area Design of a regional plan for sustainable tourism in the Protected Areas of Fundación Corcovado ₡ 17,666,490.00 the Amistad Pacífico Conservation Area Design and implementation of a plan for the ecological intervention and FUNDAUNA-ICOMVIS ₡ 30,739,941.61 ecosystem recovery at Carara National Park and La Cangreja National Park Development of a plan for the ecological intervention of the wetlands of the FUNDACA ₡ 45,050,000.00 Río Tempisque watershed Consolidation of the plan for sustainbale tourism at Cipancí Wildlife Refuge ACEPESA ₡ 6,319,218.41 Update of the National Biodiversity Strategy Fundación de Parques ₡ 34,733,820.00 Development of ecological integrity indicators and monitoring protocols for CATIE ₡ 210,592,000.00 local terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems Strategy to control and prevent poaching of wild peccaries at Golfo Dulce Osa Conservation ₡ 21,200,000.00 Foreste Reserve Studies to address three important sites for conservation: Acuíferos de CATIE ₡ 77,083,830.00 Pococí, Río Naranjo-Savegre, and Sistema Acuático Caño Negro TOTAL BUDGET IN COLONES ₡ 1,022,620,563.59 APPROXIMATE BUDGET IN DOLLARS $ 1,929,472.76 7 3. Project impacts A) The Cerros de Escazú Protected Zone (ZPCE) - established in 1976 - is a natural ecosystem of high diversity of flora, fauna, and cultural heritage that spans six counties of various stages of development, with a total area of 7,175 hectares, mostly private land. Its forests help to stabilize the soil in areas with steep slopes and serve as water recharge sites in the region, becoming a very strategic zone within the greater metropolitan area of Costa Rica. Since 2010, the local governments have not issued permits for new economic activities in the ZPCE. Therefore, there has been great interest and expectation regarding the development of its Management Plan. Multiple actors maintain different uses of resources and/or generate pressure on the area, of which 42% approximately belongs to the organized community sector. The vast majority has been part of the construction process of this plan, through organized groups or legitimate representatives. It is important to highlight several goals achieved in this project: 1. Consolidating the management tools for the protected area; 2. Multiple land uses resulting in a unanimous zoning proposal; 3. Establishment of a planned real estate development model that incorporates sustainable architecture techniques within the ZPCE; and 4. Strengthening of the Local Council as a permanent body for citizen participation in the management of the ZPCE. B) The Cerro Vueltas Biological Reserve is a protected area located in the highlands of Costa Rica under the administration of the Central Pacific Conservation Area (ACOPAC).
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